


Reaching Happiness Together

by Rin_Pride



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, M/M, Original Character(s), Romance, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-17 04:00:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16508993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rin_Pride/pseuds/Rin_Pride
Summary: Now, this Parker guy? He was definitively good looking. Short and light brown hair slowly curling at the end where they’d been dyed to a neon red, nice brown eyes and muscular. Alex’s type for sure (especially the muscles). So, normally, Alex would’ve dropped a pick up line by then, something about getting lost in his eyes, or maybe mentioned his nicely built arms that were on full display in his tank top.But, as it was, all that he could do was try his hardest not to start crying, because the buff and mean-looking man in front of him had his face and arms covered with shapes and words in black marker, and he looked absolutely ridiculous and unfairly adorable with black flowers and hearts and stars and cars and words such as pretty and cute and manly and choo-choo written across his tan skin.





	Reaching Happiness Together

“Alright, that’s it for today! Good job, everyone!” the director finished, turning towards the two models now changed out of the underwear they were modelling in into their everyday clothes. “Alexander, Sammy, thank you dearly for taking the time to join us here today,” he smiled, and they grinned back. He then left after being called over by the photographer, and Sammy turned towards the black haired man next to her.

“It was nice working with you, Alex. If you’re free, you can join me and my friend for dinner? We’re going to some pizza place not too far from here. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s certainly delicious,” she asked, offering another smile, tilting her head to the side so her hair fell off her shoulder. Alex gave a smile in return, running a hand through his dark hair. “It was great working with you, too. It would be a pleasure to accompany you for dinner, if your friend wouldn’t mind?” he politely questioned, and the blonde gave a short giggle at that, waving her hand. “No way, no way. Ria won’t mind the company.”

*

Sipping wine from his glass, Alex glanced at the two women sitting at his table.

Sammy was sitting sideways, her legs on the empty chair at the empty side of the table, one arm hanging behind her chair’s back, turning her upper body as much as she could while still being comfortable to face the other girl. Her long blond hair had been pulled up in a messy bun after it kept slipping into her glass of lemonade every time she leaned forward over the table, leaving her beautiful face in full view.

Victoria, as the girl had introduced herself, was almost the opposite of the model. Her bright green hair was cut as short as Alex’s had been before he had gotten the undercut, and her eyes were a mesmerizing blue instead of the other’s bright grey ones. Her short hair was pulled back by her glasses that she’d put on top of her head. (They weren’t sunglasses, Alexander noted.) She was wearing a black tank top with the words ‘fuck off’ on it, along with black man’s shorts and flip flops, while Sammy’s clothes were a simple white crop top paired with shorts and sandals.

Her way of speaking and moving was different, too. While Sammy’s moves were elegant and soft, her voice melodic and captivating, Victoria moved more _freely_ , so to say, moving her arms a lot while speaking and never really sitting still, her voice more on the raspy edge, while still admittedly nice to listen to. Not to mention she spoke more freely, too, not afraid to speak her mind and curse way too much in some sentences.

If Alexander was being honest, he didn’t really see anything special in the new girl. Sure, she was pretty (not really model material, but it’s not like Alex had expected her to be), and quite fun to be around, but he just couldn’t see anything that great in her.

Yet still, there she was, a normal girl, making Alex wish he had someone like her in his life. Because ever since they had sat down with her, Sammy seemed to _change_.

She was much more relaxed now, even though Alex hadn’t even noticed she _wasn’t_ , until he saw how her shoulders slumped down just a little, her back got a small curve instead of the straight position Alexander’s was still in, her movements easier and simpler.

Alex had been shocked when she had suddenly thrown her head back after Victoria had said something funny, making Alex let out a small chuckle, which stopped soon as he watched Sammy throw her head back, her smooth neck in full display, loud laughter spilling from her rosy lips. Not only that, but her smile seemed so much more _real_ and _sincere_ after they’d arrived, and her eyes seemed to shine so bright, and she looked so incredibly beautiful when she was truly happy, and not just acting for the photoshoots.

It was exactly what Alexander, the handsome young model, loved by girls since the age of 15, wanted.

Alex wanted, more than anything, to have someone who could make him feel truly happy.

*

“I- I never wanted to be a model,” Alex whispered, pulling the soft blue blanket even tighter around himself, and then wrapped his arms around his legs again. He was sitting on Sammy’s couch in his new apartment, with Victoria sitting on his left, leaning back and looking at him quietly. They had, to Alex’s surprise, became quite good friends in the six months after their first meeting.

“My parents, they- they wanted me to,” he continued quietly, staring at the turned off TV in front of him. “Said it’d be good for me, and that it, it would be for the best. Since, since I’ve never really known what I want to do. So, they made the decision for me.”

There was silence, and after it was clear he didn’t know how to continue, Victoria helped him. “Is there anything you want to do now? Something you enjoy doing, maybe?” Her voice was quite, too, and soft. It was different from her usual loud one. It was reassuring.

Alex shook his head. “I’m mostly just busy modelling, or hanging out with you guys. I… I don’t- I don’t know what I want, Ria. I just- I just know I don’t want to do this any- anymore. I’m, I’m just so- so _tired_ of all the fame and paparazzi and media and _everything_. I just want to walk around without girls coming up to me, asking for pictures and autographs and my number, and paparazzi following me, and people making up shit about me. I’m- I’m just-“ “Alex,” his friend stopped him, shifting closer and dropping her head on his covered shoulder. “It’s okay.”

Alexander let his head fall on top of hers’, sighing and closing his eyes, feeling tears slowly roll down his face.

They stay like that until Sammy returned home, finding them cuddling asleep on his couch, and kicked them both off.

*

“Come _on_ , Alex,” Victoria whined, tugging at the man’s shirt. “It’s just one simple date! I promise I won’t even make fun of you if you fuck up… too much,” she grinned.

Alex threw his head back, exhaling loudly. “ _Fine_ ,” he finally agreed, and continued quickly before Ria had the chance to jump on him in joy – she _was_ just as tall as he was. “But if it goes horribly, you’re _dead_ to me.” “Yeah yeah,” she said dismissively, waving her hand and unlocking her phone, probably about to text the guy, Alex guessed.

She had run in two days ago while Alex had been in the middle of his usual workout routine, sitting down on his back and hitting his head lightly until he gave in and stopped with his push-ups, letting himself stay on the ground as she scrambled off, laying down next to him on her side and grinned. She told him her friend, some guy named Parker, who she’d apparently met years prior in a library once when she was still in high school and he was in college. Apparently, he had just came out to her as gay some time ago, and she decided to set him up with Alex, for reasons unknown.

“You’re meeting on Saturday at 11.30 in that café down the street from SamSam’s place, kay? Kay,” she told him, and then returned to skipping down the street, as if nothing had happened.

Alex just sighed, used to Victoria’s antics, and followed her with a small smile, not really thinking too much of his date on Saturday.

After all, the chances were he’d never see the guy again after the stupid date, right?

*

It was 11.47 on Saturday, and Alex was leaning forward in his chair in the small café, one hand formed in a fist covering his mouth to stop himself from laughing more, the other lightly hitting the table, making the two drinks shake slightly.

His apparent date, Parker, had just taken a seat at the table Alex was just about to leave, setting down his drink and looking Alex directly in his eyes.

Now, this Parker guy? He was definitively good looking. Short and light brown hair slowly curling at the end where they’d been dyed to a neon red, nice brown eyes and muscular. Alex’s type for sure (especially the muscles). So, normally, Alex would’ve dropped a pick up line by then, something about getting lost in his eyes, or maybe mentioned his nicely built arms that were on full display in his tank top.

But, as it was, all that he _could_ do was try his hardest not to start crying, because the buff and mean-looking man in front of him had his face and arms covered with shapes and words in black marker, and he looked absolutely _ridiculous_ and _unfairly adorable_ with black flowers and hearts and stars and cars and words such as _pretty_ and _cute_ and _manly_ and _choo-choo_ written across his tan skin.

*

_It was probably a day before some huge test for the high schoolers_ , Parker guessed as he walked around the full library, looking for a free seat. All the tables were mostly filled with teenagers frantically scribbling in their notebooks, or leaning over a textbook and trying to figure stuff out. A quick glance at some of the stuff on the tables let him now they were preparing for a math exam, if all the equations and desperate looks were anything to go by.

He noticed a table at the far end of the library then, occupied by just some guy with bright orange hair and a dark blue hoodie with headphones, who instead of solving equations had his elbows resting on his notebook, hands clasped together as if praying, with his head tilted forward so his forehead touched his fingers, eyes closed.

Parker chuckled, making his way towards him.

*

“Parker, I swear to _fuck_ , if you’re shitting me…” he drifted off, his glare piercing through Parker, who only let out a quiet chuckle in response, noting they were still in a library.

He had been sharing the table at the local library with Viri since they’d first met two months ago the day before his math exam, where Parker had joined the praying student quietly to finish his homework, and recently he had taken to helping him with studying, too.

“No, dude, I’m serious,” he assured the other, his lips quivering upwards. “You’ve been doing this wrong the whole time.”

“Kill me,” was Viri’s response.

*

Having a panic attack wasn’t exactly one of Parker’s favorite things to experience. Especially when it happened at school. Where there were people. His classmates. Where he didn’t have any friends.

So Parker only cursed at himself in his mind as he took quick breaths, his slightly shaking hands pressed against his chest.

His back was pressed against the wall, just a few feet away from the corner to the hallway the nurses’ office was stationed at. His left shin was pulsing from where Karl had kicked him hardly, and Parker knew it would hurt like a bitch after his panic attack calmed down and he gained back control over his body.

Karl was talking, saying things, words, but they made to sense to Parker. Hell, he couldn’t even hear him, really. All he heard was his quick heartbeat and shallow breaths. He couldn’t lift his head up, couldn’t see who everyone surrounding him was, but he knew there were at least five guys standing there. They were taking the opportunity of Parker’s weakened state, through they probably didn’t know why he was unable to fight back. Probably didn’t care, either.

Parker stared at all the feet that shuffled around behind the still legs surrounding him, his vision filling with black dots here and there. So many of the other students, walking by, not even noticing, or more likely, ignoring it all. After all, why would they help him? He didn’t have any friends here. No one ever spoke to him. They were probably too intimidated to even come close to him.

_No one will help me_ , Parker thought, his chest squeezing even tighter, just as a foot suddenly connected with his face. There were even more black dots dancing then, and a strange sensation in his nose.

He suddenly felt as if the air was being pulled away from him, and he gasped, trying to breathe in as much air as possible, when suddenly one pair of the stiff legs caging him in stumbled backwards, and then another, and there was distant yelling and shouting and noises of something breaking, multiple times, and then all the legs caging him disappeared, ran off, and a new pair appeared, and suddenly blue eyes were staring into him from behind black rimmed glasses, and hair as orange as fire was there, and the pink lips pulled up into a soft smile, and there were some words, sounding like gibberish to him, and then everything went black.

*

There were voices close to him, loud, and Parker focused on them.

“You _can’t_ lose consciousness from experiencing a panic attack, Kal! Something about all the adrenalin and shit and you can _think_ you will, but you _can’t_!” someone said, and Parker’s mind registered that it was Viri, and he slowly blinked his eyes open.

There were three people in the room with him – the nurses office, Parker guessed. One of them was Viri, his hair pulled back in a lousy and small ponytail, wearing a shirt with a logo Parker didn’t recognize, and jeans, weaving his arms around, as was usual for him. In front of him was a man with wavy black hair that just reached his shoulders, dressed in a simple tight-fitting white shirt and jeans, his arms crossed across his ( _nice_ – no, shut up, stupid) chest, his dark blue eyes looking down at Viri, through they were only a few inches apart in height. The last person in the room was sitting on the second bed in the room, her bright brown hair straightened and her glasses perched high on her nose. She was wearing a white button-up, tucked in her black skirt that reached down to a few inches above her knees.

Parker recognized the two.

They were Kallahan, the captain of the football team and the most popular guy at their college, and Lacey, the smartest girl at their college, and also recently known as Kallahan’s girlfriend. Through many had been surprised when the pair announced they were dating, what with Kallahan’s reputation and Lacey being labeled a nerd with not many friends, they quickly accepted it with the fear of Kallahan hunting them down for bullying his girlfriend.

But why were they in the nurses’ office when Parker was there? What was Viri doing there? And why were they talking?

“Oh, you’re awake!” Lacey exclaimed, and Parker snapped out of his thoughts, slowly sitting up and turning his head towards the softly smiling girl slowly approaching him, a worried look in her eyes. “How are you feeling?”

“Uh,” answered Parker, and then winced as he received a slap to the back of his head.

“Idiot,” said Viri, and he looked up at him, rubbing the spot where he’d been hit. “What’s going on?”

Before he could get an answer, the bell rang, and Lacey’s brown eyes widened as she quickly turned towards her boyfriend. “We’re going to be late!”

Kallahan sighed, and then looked directly at Parker, and he _might_ have been scared a little, because this guy was _tall_ and _strong_ and _popular_ , and said, “Look, man, I don’t care if you’ve got some issues with some people, or if they have issues with you, but _please_ try not to drag my little sister into it, okay? I know she jumped in herself, and I know she’s strong, but I don’t want her getting hurt.”

“Aww, you care about me!” Viri said, putting a hand on his chest and fluttered his eyelashes at Kallahan, who only rolled his eyes in response and turned around, taking Lacey’s hand and walking out the doors while Lacey waved at the two.

“Wait, little _sister_? _Kallahan’s_?!”

“Oh, come _on_! You thought I was a guy, too?!”

*

Parker kicked the football ball back towards his friend, lifting his shirt up to swipe off the sweat that had started slipping down his forehead. “But I don’t _want_ to go on a date with this Alexander guy of yours,” he complained once again.

“But _Parkerrr_ ,” whined Victoria, her lips forming a pout as she kicked the ball with a bit more force than before. “It’s just one date! It’s not like I expect you to _marry_ the guy or something! Come _on_!”

“Ria, I swear to fuck, I _told_ you my parents will _disown_ me if they find out-” “But they won’t!” the green haired girl interrupted. “Please, dude. You owe me for all that time you believed I was a dude!”

“Motherf- stop bringing that up!”

*

It had been an _hour_ already.

An hour since he’d entered the small café, sitting down opposite the unfairly handsome man Parker recognized as Alexander from Ria’s pictures. 56 minutes since the guy had _finally_ gained his breath back from laughing too hard at Parker’s appearance, created by Victoria dearest. 49 minutes since they’d formally introduced themselves and ordered each a different slice of cake. 47 minutes since Parker almost died from chocking on strawberry cake after Alex _had complimented his hair holy fuck what is wrong with him_. 35 minutes since they each paid for their own drink and cake. 33 minutes since they mutually decided to go on a walk in the park a few streets down instead of parting their ways already. 29 minutes since Parker was embarrassingly reminded of the black lines and words and drawings that were marking his skin by the small kid running up to him and asking if they were tattoos before his mother had dragged him away, scared (because Parker was a man with defined muscles from daily workout and was quite tall and he wore darker clothes and he knew he was intimidating) and weirded out (he was covered in _fucking black marker he was going to kill Victoria_ ). 22 minutes since they had sat down on a bench, not close enough to touch, but not far enough for them to both be on the end of the bench. 15 minutes since they had exchanged numbers ( _holy crap they’d exchanged numbers_ ). 13 minutes since Alex walked towards wherever his motorbike was parked ( _fuck yeah_ ) with the parting words which implied he would like to meet up with Parker again, when he wasn’t covered in what had been after a long and embarrassing conversation labeled as _art_ ( _they were going to have a second date holy son of a bitch_ ). 3 minutes since Parker entered Sammy’s apartment, now almost Victoria’s apartment, too. A minute since he’d pulled both Sammy and Ria off the couch and threw himself on it, his face buried in the pillows, burning.

_Holy mother of God_.

“You okay there, bro?” Ria, ever the one to break the ice, asked. All she had gotten in response was a muffled groan and a deeper blush, now also painting the back of Parker’s neck.

“Idiot,” Sammy labeled him then, and left their living room in favor of getting Parker a glass of water.

Bless them.

*

“Holy crap you’re _for real_ ,” Alex laughed, his dark brown eyes twinkling, and Parker knew he was _fucked_ (man, he _wishes_ he was).

“Fuck off,” he whined, covering his face with his arm and slouching forward, trying his best to hide his red face. “You thought Ria was a guy for so long,” Alex repeated, because apparently he _wanted_ to kill Parker, and then slouched forward himself, with the difference that he was doing it because he was laughing too hard.

Parker straightened a bit then, if only to watch the man sitting next to him on the couch laugh his heart out.

When Alexander laughed, _for real_ , he did it with his whole being, Parker had learned. He’d noticed it the first time they’d met already, but back then he hadn’t known it wasn’t how Alex usually acted. But now, he’d seen and heard him chuckle and smile at things, how it seemed not exactly _honest_. Parker noticed how Alex had a habit of putting on a smile or forcing chuckles whenever he thought appropriate, mostly when around strangers, yet still doing it when around himself, Ria and Sammy, through admittedly way less than he tended to do when in public. He also learned that when Alex showed real smiles and chuckles, his voice sounded just a bit lighter than it did when he did it in the practiced, _restricted_ way he mostly tended to. Parker got the feeling he stopped himself from laughing for real and letting out only chuckles even when he found something funny.

Parker didn’t understand why he’d do that, but on the other hand, he was so insanely _glad_ he did, because Parker was a possessive little shit, and liked to imagine he was the only one who got to see him when he was laughing full-heartedly, because who wouldn’t fall in love with an insanely handsome man with the most beautiful laugh ever?

Parker found he absolutely _adored_ Alexander’s laugh.

His voice was just a bit lighter, higher when he did, and he could barely form words because he laughed so strongly. He tended to start crying from laughing too hard, too. His whole face was so much _brighter_ and _prettier_ when he was laughing, lips pulled upwards into a big smile, his straight white teeth on full display, and his eyes almost closed. He usually (Parker had only seen him laugh like this two times unfortunately; the time they first meet, and now) first threw his head back, and then, after a while, when tears were already forming in his eyes, he bended forward, his hand slapping his thigh as the other swatted at air.

Parker continued staring at the other man ( _what a fucking creep he is, dang it_ ), watching as he slowly calmed down, breathing deeply and letting out only slight chuckles that he had to stop by pressing a fist to his mouth so they wouldn’t transform into the full-on laughter again.  He slowly raised his head after a while, looking at the mesmerized Parker ( _gosh he’s so beautiful what the actual fuck is this even allowed_ ) while wiping the remaining tears from his eyes and face. “Sorry,” he giggled ( _he motherfucking giggled the son of a fuck please kill him right now he is not okay_ ).

*

It was absolutely freezing outside, Parker decided as he stood in the snow outside Sammy’s apartment, his face turned upwards and eyes closed, letting the snow slowly fall on his face.

His breathing was slowly calming down from having been involved in the snowball fight with Alex, and he could feel the cold snow at his back (the fucker had gotten snow into Parker’s jacket and shirt). He slowly let his head fall back down, opening his eyes, only to find himself staring into soft dark brown eyes right in front of him.

Parker inhaled deeply, his eyes widening at Alex’s proximity ( _not cool my dude, definitely not cool, your eyes look so mothershitting warm and your cheeks are fucking red and your lips are so fucking – ugh kill him please he cannot right now_ ), and then –

Alexander was kissing him.

There were soft ( _cold holy shit_ ) lips pressed against his, and a ( _freezing you son of a fuck_ ) hand softly holding his cheek and his eyes closed and _he was kissing Alex and Alex was kissing him_ and then the touch was gone, and when Parker opened his eyes, he saw a soft smile on Alex’s face, his eyes warm and _smiling_ , and Parker could’ve sworn his cheeks were just a bit redder, and then he turned and walked towards his car, and Parker was sure he had died and gone to heaven.

*

**_The Losers and The All Mighty_ **

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _hello is anyone alive pls_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _i need someone to assure me im alive hello_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _this is an emergency guys dont be dickheads im dying here_

**_Smurf:_ ** _bitch what’s the emergency I’m in the middle of crushing the dreams of some national basketball players or smth_

**_Smurf:_ ** _tis better be super important_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _Victoria_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _Ria_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _My man, my boy, my love, my world, my everything_

**_Smurf:_ ** _okay guys get here I think Parker is high y’all don’t wanna miss this_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _fuck u_

**_Smurf:_ ** _babe I thought u loved me_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _alex kissed me???_

**_Smurf:_ ** _Is this a joke._

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _no??_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _omg do u think its just a joke??_

**_Smurf:_ ** _Oh for fuck’s sake Parker no he’s not a bitchhead_

**_The Nerd:_ ** _A what now_

**_The Nerd:_ ** _Parker_

**_The Nerd:_ ** _Did_

**_The Nerd:_ ** _Are you saying Alexander The Model-ish freaking kissed you_

**_The Nerd:_ ** _And you’re here telling us about it instead of continuing that?????_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _well he left tf am i supposed to do_

**_Thing 1:_ ** _do you suck that much_

**_Smurf:_ ** _I bet he WISHES he was sucking him off rn ayy_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _i think it was kinda a goodbye kiss bc we were just gonna leave anyways??_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _ria fuck off im disowning u_

**_Smurf:_ ** _bAbE nO_

**_Thing 2:_ ** _well then you better be the one to kiss him goodbye next time or I’ll be deeply disappointed in you_

**_Spidy-Wannabe:_ ** _ahldgadf_

**_Beauty & Grace: _ ** _Congrats you loser_

*

It was really strange, Parker decided.

Through the whole time they’d been moving the boxes and furniture into Alex’s new apartment, right across from Sammy and Ria’s, he’d been acting somewhat _strange_.

He seemed to almost be _avoiding_ Parker. Every time they made eye contact, he averted his eyes right away. Whenever they touched while exchanging the heavy boxes, Alex _flinched_ , and moved away as soon as he could. He wouldn’t even speak with him!

Parker couldn’t understand what was wrong. Had he done something?

The only thing that came to his mind when he thought of it was that Alex was acting like that because he wanted to _break up_. Which Parker did _not_ like one bit.

He hadn’t been as happy as he’s been since he’d met him almost a year ago, and he really didn’t want to lose what they had.

For fuck’s sake, Parker _loved_ the guy.

And if they were really about to break up, he couldn’t help but feel stupid for being selfish enough not to want to lose Alex. Shouldn’t he want what was best for Alex if he really loved him?

It was probably something Parker had done.

It always is.

All the arguments they’d had, they all started with Parker being too whiny and too annoying and too selfish and too possessive. He was always the one clinging all over Alex, always the first one to put a hand around his shoulder or waist, the one who always sat down right next to him, practically in the other’s lap. Hell, he’s the only one that’s been initiating kisses and all that for a while now, and he hadn’t even realized it until now!

Now that he thought about it, Parker realized Alex had been acting somewhat more distant for a few weeks now, and he felt so _stupid_ for not noticing before. What kind of boyfriend was he?!

Almost an ex-boyfriend.

_Fuck._

No, this was fine. Completely fine. Yup. Totally acceptable.

If Alex wanted to break up with him, that’s _fine_. It’s not like Parker 

actually thought they’d last _forever_ ( _but man did he wish they would, dream of spending the rest of his life with Alexander by his side_ ). He just wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon, so out of nowhere. Or something.

It would probably make it awkward for him to visit Ria and Sammy, knowing his ex ( _his ex, fuck_ ) was just across the hall. Maybe he wouldn’t even hang out with them anymore. And he’d probably have to get a new job, but that’s _fine_ , too. The tattoo and piercings parlor him and Alex had opened just two months prior would be _fine_ without him, anyways. They already had two other workers there, and Justin would probably take over the tattooing for him.

_Shit._

Parker exhaled slowly, shakily, and realized they’d finished moving all of Alex’s things. He looked towards the entrance, where Sammy and Ria had just exited through, and made to follow them out, not wanting to hear Alex say it, not yet ( _not ever, please, fuck, he can’t_ ).

“Wait, Parker,” Alex called for him, and Parker stopped right away, staring at the closed doors ( _oh for fuck’s sake stop that don’t just obey his every command like that he probably hates you for it, you’re not a puppy you fucking piece of shit_ ).

Would he have to start calling him Alexander once they weren’t dating anymore?

Would he even talk with him again after?

Gosh, Parker wished he wouldn’t, he definitely couldn’t handle being near him while knowing all they had been through, all they’ve done together, how much he loved him ( _maybe if he loses his memory he’ll be able to at least live on happily because he won’t know such happiness exists, at least for him_ ).

“What?” Parker asked, and cursed at himself in his mind, because his fucking voice was too fucking cold and obviously forced ( _don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry_ ).

“Can we talk?”

Ah, yes. Talk. Yes. Parker could do that. Probably. Maybe. Perhaps. If he tried hard enough.

“Sure,” he answered, turning around, only to see Alex ( _Alexander_ ) turn away ( _fuck why is this so motherfucking painful_ ) and make his way down the short hall.

“Come here.”

Parker walked slowly, trying to postpone his heartbreak ( _why was his heart already beating so hard and why does it hurt so much what the fuck he’s sure he’s dying please let him die right now so this pain will be fucking over and he doesn’t actually have to hear him say it_ ).

Alex ( _it’s Alexander for fuck’s sake Parker get it together you loser_ ) stopped in front of the first doors on the right, right across the bathroom, Parker knew, because he’d had to use it earlier and he had barely gotten the courage to ask in fear of being right-out ignored in front of his friends.

They had probably noticed something’s wrong anyways.

Victoria might be really loud and stupid academically-wise, but having the habit of studying everyone she saw doing any kinds of sports activity with to learn it herself and find ways to beat the other or help them improve, plus the occasional helping her brother study people-observing or whatever, Parker knew she could probably tell something was up the moment they’d met up.

As for Sammy, they were creepily observant as it is. There was no way they _hadn’t_ noticed the tense atmosphere.

And even if they had figured Alex – _Alexander_ was just pissed at Parker, that maybe they’d had an argument prior, they would have changed their minds when it became obvious Parker wouldn’t even stand close to him unless necessary. That was probably the biggest give-away – if him and Alexander were in the same room, there was no way Parker wouldn’t be standing close to him, holding his hand or having an arm around the other, or leaning on him.

It kind of felt like his heart was slowly breaking today, when he had to physically hold himself back from dropping himself over the other and whining how tiring it was (it really wasn’t, but it was a Parker thing to complain about shit just to see Alex try to hold back a smile at his stupid antics).

“This is the guest room,” Alexander said, opening the doors as Parker stopped next to him.

Parker almost laughed. What, did he want to show him around his new apartment before breaking up with him? Did he want to show him absolutely everything he was never going to get?

Parker decided that this was the absolutely worst feeling in the whole world.

Anticipating the heartbreak, having his heart already slowly breaking to pieces before it even happened.

He couldn’t even enjoy their last few moments together.

Parker felt like crying and at the same time he didn’t feel anything at all and yet still he felt as if something was squeezing his heart and his lungs were so full he couldn’t breathe but at the same time so _fucking empty_ , like something was missing ( _probably his fucking heart_ ).

He reluctantly looked around the room, noting it only consisted of a small mattress pushed against the wall, and a wardrobe on the other side, with a window directly across from where they were standing.

Wow, even the stupid practically empty room was fuller than Parker’s heart felt.

At least the room would get to have Alexander walk into it sometimes.

Great, now he was comparing himself to a _room_.

Someone stab him, please.

“That’s nice,” he said, because what else was he supposed to say?

Alex only nodded in response, closing the doors and moving down the hall. Parker noticed he was walking with a slight limp (he had injured his left knee when he was a kid), and how his back was completely straight and shoulders tense. Parker automatically looked down towards his hands, which were, as he had predicted, awkward, his fingers slightly curled as if he wanted to make a fist, but didn’t want people to notice something was wrong.

Parker knew all of that meant that Alex was really nervous.

He was feeling nervous about breaking up with him, _how nice_.

Parker _really_ wanted to punch himself.

Next, they stopped by the only other doors on the right side of the hall, and Alexander opened them to reveal another room.

This one had an actual bed, a king-sized one at that, that was right under the window. Next to its right side was a small cupboard, and there was the same wardrobe as the one in the guestroom on the side of the room.

“The walls look stupid if they’re just white and blank,” Alex said, and Parker could’ve sworn there was a slight tremor in his voice.

Parker wanted to say, _so what? You want me to draw on them for you?_ He wanted to say, _are you sure you want to have your walls painted by the guy you plan to break up with?_

“Yeah,” he said instead.

They did look stupidly blank and boring like that.

That was how Parker seemed to him now probably, after having to shoulder him for a year.

_Just stop with all this stupid self-hating you fuckass, you’ve always known Alexander’s too good for a worthless piece of shit like you anyways._

Parker wasn’t going to survive hearing Alex tell him they should break up.

At least not without a stupid break down.

If Parker was completely honest with himself, he’d had to admit that what he’s scared of the most isn’t the dark, or spiders, or clowns, or whatever other stupid shit that scares him.

No, what he fears the most, is falling in love with someone.

When Parker was five years old, he had asked his parents what they loved most about each other, because he’d heard from a friend that her sister had told her boyfriend everything she loved about him as a way of confessing, and Parker was curious what his parents’ reasons were.

He remembered how his parents had smiled at each other, and how their voices were so much softer than usual when they told him. How his mom had said she loved how rebellious her husband was, and the way he always seemed to make people smile so easily. How his dad admitted to loving how independent his wife was, and how stubborn she was, and the way she never cared about what the others thought of her.

He still vividly remembered the night after his fifteenth birthday, how he was lying in bed with the covers over his head and eyes squeezed shut, trying to tune out the screaming and shouting and yelling. How his mother had screamed at her husband how she hated how he always did things his own way, how he didn’t like following the rules, how he always made all the other women smile. How his father yelled back how he hated the way she always wanted to do things herself, barely ever accepting his help, how annoying it was when she always stubbornly insisted on her point, how she tended to do whatever, not caring about how that would influence what people thought of them.

How his parents divorced and his mother moved away a month and a half later.

He’s afraid of falling in love because he knows that the things that make people fall in love are also the reason they will fall out of love for.

Alexander inhaled deeply, staring into the room and not looking at Parker, and he mentally prepared himself for the blow ( _god please no I can’t take it_ ).

“And this is our room.”

_Huh?_

Parker inhaled sharply, eyes wide open, and turned towards Alex with his whole body as fast as he could, staring at the man with his mouth almost dropping open.

Alex was _blushing. What the fuck._

Parker let out a sound, high pitched and stupid, and he was ready to _fucking die holy crap what the fuck is this real_.

“Wanna move in with me?” Alex asked, his voice shaking slightly ( _hell yeah the son of a bitch was nervous, Parker had fucking told you holy fuck this is happening people is he even alive still_ ), and finally turned to look at Parker, who threw himself at the other.

“You motherfucker!” Parker shouted, and then he kissed him, and _gosh he loves him so fucking much_.

_What the fuck_.

*

Alexander wasn’t exactly sure if they were moving too fast or too slow.

They had only known each other for a year and a half, after all.

Yet still, it kind of felt like it was obvious they’d stay together forever anyway, so what was the point of waiting?

So, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to maybe get a ring.

But the problem was, he wasn’t sure what kind of ring to get Parker.

He knew it had to be something simple, just a one-colored round ring, no diamonds or anything, because he knew Parker wouldn’t wear that. The thing was, while he himself preferred gold, Parker had a liking for silver, and it was really problematic because he kept on looking at golden rings instead of silver ones because of his own preference.

And then there was the whole thing with Parker’s family not even knowing about them, and when his cousin came over and they had to pretend they weren’t together was _killing_ him.

*

**_From: Parker_ **

_ill be home soon i promisee_

****

**_To: Parker_ **

_You better be_

_I miss you_

**_From: Parker_ **

_kvjiogh_

_alex u lil shit i keep on telling u to stop doing that_

_my poor heart cant take it ok_

“Are you dating someone?”

The question surprised him, and Alex quickly looked up from his phone, noticing Hiroko was standing there. He turned off his phone and straightened his back where he was sitting on the couch.

“Uh, why?”

“Oh, sorry,” she started, waving her hand and then fixing her long blonde hair behind her ear, a slight blush appearing. “It’s just that you had a really soft smile, and your face just looked so _happy_ , and I figured you must be texting someone important…” she drifted off.

“Oh, yeah, I’m… I’m dating someone,” Alex admitted, praying she wouldn’t ask who it was.

He really didn’t want to lie to Parker’s family, especially his favorite cousin.

She nodded her head in response, and then asked if she could borrow his laptop.

Alexander walked over to the kitchen table where the laptop was, Hiroko following close behind. He turned it on and wrote in his password, and the moment he pressed enter he realized his mistake.

Back at them stared an open page of golden overpriced wedding rings.

Alex was going to die.

*

“How about this one?” Hiroko asked, pointing to a simple golden ring that Alex had taken interest in the moment they’d entered the shop.

“It’s a really nice one,” he admitted. “But he prefers silver. I’m the one who likes gold,” he told her sheepishly.

She chuckled in response. “Don’t worry, Alex. Parker will love whatever you chose, especially if it’s something you love.” Her smile was soft and warm, and Alex realized she was probably right, because his boyfriend was one big sap.

Then his eyes widened.

“Parker?” His voice was betrayingly high, dang it. “That’s…”

Hiro giggled again, brushing a hand through her blonde strands. “It’s okay, Alex. You guys look at each other like you’re in love, it’s not that hard to figure out.”

Well, at least one of Parker’s family members would be willing to come to their wedding.

*

**_Parker created a new group chat_ **

**_Parker named the group chat THIS IS NOT A DRILL PPL_ **

**_Parker added Victoria, Sammy, Kallahan, River and Quinn_ **

**_Parker:_ ** _HeLp_

**_Parker:_ ** _THIS IS AN EMERGENY GUYS_

**_Parker:_ ** _DON’T BE MOTHERFUCKERS_

**_Parker:_ ** _I NEED U GUYZ COME ON_

**_Parker:_ ** _IM ABOUT TO DIE HERE_

**_Victoria:_ ** _wtf dude_

**_Victoria:_ ** _You do know we already have a group chat right?_

**_Victoria:_ ** _You know, the one where yer bf is included?_

**_Parker:_ ** _RIA BLESS I LOVE U_

**_Parker:_ ** _IM ABOUT TO DIE HERE PLEASE_

**_Parker:_ ** _U GOTTA HELP ME_

**_Victoria:_ ** _Wha u need me to beat someone up?_

**_Victoria:_ ** _I’m god at that_

**_Victoria:_ ** _*good_

**_Victoria:_ ** _Meh god works_

**_Parker:_ ** _DO U THINK HIROKO COULD POSSIBLY HAVE THING FOR ALEX_

**_Victoria:_ ** _W H A T_

**_Victoria:_ ** _N O_

**_Victoria:_ ** _W H O  T O L D  Y O U  T H A T_

**_Victoria:_ ** _K I L L  T H E M_

**_Victoria:_ ** _WTF DUDE_

**_Parker:_ ** _BUT HAVEN’T THEY BEEN A LITTLE TOO CLOSE RECENTLY????_

**_Parker:_ ** _AND THEY WEN’T OUT TOGETHER YESTERDAY??_

**_Parker:_ ** _JUST THE 2 OF THEM????_

**_Victoria:_ ** _N O ._

**_Kallahan:_ ** _You guys wtf you’re too paranoid_

**_Kallahan:_ ** _And Viki shut up you’ve barely talked with Hiroko_

**_Victoria:_ ** _WELL HAVE YOU SEEN HER_

**_Victoria:_ ** _SHE’S LIKE_

**_Victoria:_ ** _SO PRETTY?????????_

**_Parker:_ ** _EXACTLY THAT’S THE MOTHERFUCKING PROBLEM_

**_Parker:_ ** _SHE’S REALLY PRETTY_

**_Parker:_ ** _AND SUPER CUTE_

**_Parker:_ ** _AND LIKE THE NICEST THING EVER_

**_Parker:_ ** _AND A GIRL_

**_Parker:_ ** _AND LIKE ADORABLY SMALL_

**_Parker:_ ** _WHO WOULDN’T LIKE HER_

**_Victoria:_ ** _IKR I NEED HER IN MY LIFE_

**_Victoria:_ ** _STOP MAKING ME DEPRESSED_

**_Victoria:_ ** _I REFUSE TO ACCEPT YOUR LIES_

**_Sammy:_ ** _I’ll tell you who wouldn’t like her romantically_

**_Sammy:_ ** _Your boyfriend_

**_Sammy:_ ** _Because he loves you_

**_Sammy:_ ** _And no one else_

**_Kallahan:_ ** _Yea what they said_

**_Parker:_ ** _BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THEM TOGETHER GUYS U DON’T UNDERSTAND_

**_Victoria:_ ** _STFU PARKER OR I’LL COME THERE AND BEAT YOU UP_

**_Victoria:_ ** _LET A GIRL DREAM_

*

“Parker.

To be completely honest, I think the past year of my life has been the happiest I’ve ever been. And I think what made it so great was the fact that you’ve been next to me.

I’ve long learned how to fake a smile, and how to hold back my laugh. And when I saw how happy Sammy was around Victoria, I realized I wanted someone in my life that would give me a reason to smile, too. And then I met you, and I lost it the moment we met.

Parker, I’m in love with you.

I love the way you smile when you look at me, and I love how you can make me laugh with no effort at all.

I love how happy you make me feel.

So, Parker, will you make me the happiest man alive, till death does us part, and marry me?”

*

Parker and Alexander exchanged soft kisses as they made their way towards their bedroom.

They slowly laid down on the bed, on their sides, facing each other, and laced their fingers together. The golden ring on Parker’s finger felt cold and unfamiliar, but oh-so welcome.

“I’m yours,” Parker whispered in the dark, staring at the brown eyes of his fiancé. He felt the other slowly caress the back of his hand with his thumb.

“And I’m yours,” replied Alex.

*

**_Golden:_ ** _sent a photo_

**_viktorya:_ ** _vcskhdfgz_

**_viktorya:_ ** _That’s so cuteeeee_

**_viktorya:_ ** _Ahhh I’m so happy for you guyssss_

**_Pretty Stuff:_ ** _I’m happy for you two_

**_Thing 1:_ ** _Cute_

**_Thing 2:_ ** _Cute_

**_Daddy:_ ** _So happy for you guys_

**_Hiro-chan:_ ** _Aww how cute!_

**_Silver:_ ** _Why would you send it here_

*

**_Instagram account_ ** **alexander_laurels _has posted a new photo._**

**_[two hands, the paler one on top of the other, fingers intertwined, the tanner hand’s ring finger standing out with the golden ring]_ **

****


End file.
